SILENCE THE THUNDER!
-VS-
Game Time Start: 7:00 PM ET
Where: The Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
Officials: T. Washington, C. Kirkland, L. Richardson
Media Notes: Indiana Notes, Oklahoma City Notes
Local TV: FSI
Local Radio: WIBC 93.1 FM
NBA Feeds:
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Pacers Kyrylo Fesenko, getting into wacky hijinks in Point Place, WI, out Thunder Eric Maynor, torn ACL, out |
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Eight Points, Nine Seconds |
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Tim Donahue: By the Numbers - The Homestretch Time for another installment of the By The Numbers series? Indiana has a dirty dozen games left. It’s April, and the playoff race is in full swing, so let’s look at the big numbers. 31-21 After the win in Washington, Chris Denari mentioned something I had not realized – the 33rd win of the season for the Pacers guaranteed that Indy would be .500 or better for the first time since 2006. Good on them. As I mentioned at the All Star break, the season has been a little uneven. Indy is only 17-15 after a 16-6 start, but to be anything less than thrilled with where the Pacers stand right now is more indicative of wildly inappropriate expectations than any shortfall by the Pacers. Most impressive, the Pacers are 16-14 on the road. They are one game away from reaching coach Frank Vogel’s goal of a winning record away from home. To give you an idea of how big of a deal that is, the NBA has averaged fewer than 8 winning road teams per season over the last 12 years. The Pacers’ road record is sixth best in the league, and one of only seven winning road records in the league this year. 9th, 8th As it stands right now, the Pacers in are in the top ten in both Defensive (9th) and Offensive (8th) efficiency. Should Vogel’s squad finish the season this way, it will be the first time since 2004 that the Pacers have accomplished such a feat. To further understand how impressive this would be, it should be noted that this would be only the fourth time Indiana has been in the top ten at both ends in their 37-year NBA history. Besides 2004, they also did it in 1995 and 1998. In all three of those seasons, the Pacers made it to the Eastern Conference Finals. That 1998 team, in my opinion, was the best NBA Pacer team ever. .579, .362 Those two numbers represent the Pacers’ shooting at the rim and from 16-23 feet according to Hoopdata. This is a mixed bag. The .579 at the rim is an improvement from the last time we spoke (.556), and Indiana is no longer dead last in the Association. They have clawed their way past New Jersey and even Charlotte to stand 28th! Yay! But, really, they’re still bad at the rim. Roy Hibbert (.557), David West (.560), and Darren Collison (.531) 40% of Indy’s shots here, and their collective .551 is worse than any team in the league. Paul George remains strong at the rim - shooting .638 on the second most attempts on the team (163) – and he’s joined by Tyler Hansbrough (.633) as the only Pacers hitting better than the league average .627. At .362, Indy has creeped out of the bottom five, but they’re still well short of the .379 league average. David West is back to .470, matching last year’s sterling percentage. Darren Collison is up to .420, as that little pull up has become a reliable weapon. Tyler Hansbrough is still at .340, which I still believe is killing his offensive game. Last season...CONTINUE READING AT 8p9s |
Daily Thunder | |||
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Clutch squared: Westbrook and Durant are figuring it out Ever since “The Altercation,” things have really cooled on the “Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant can’t co-exist front.” Mainly because the Thunder have risen to the best team in the West while Westbrook and Durant have looked equally spectacular. They’re the top scoring duo in the league averaging a combined 51.9 points per game. They’ve both scored 40-plus in a game together twice this season, something no other duo in NBA history has done. Since the start of 2010-11 season Durant and Westbrook have each scored 20-plus points in a game 70 times, most in NBA. I could go on, but I think you get it. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are very good. And yet, there’s this perception. I say “this perception” because I’m not even sure if I know what it is anymore. Some think Westbrook is a ball-hog. Some think Durant and Westbrook hate each other. Some think Westbrook and Durant are locked in a battle for alpha dog supremacy. Some get locked into rudimentary statlines that explain nothing about the way Durant and Westbrook play together. Some just think they don’t play basketball very well together. But those that have watched the Thunder play this season, they’ve seen an interesting dynamic. Westbrook and Durant appear to be getting along very well on the basketball court. Oklahoma City’s record (37-12) should say enough, but the question is if Westbrook and Durant can, or will, succeed in the postseason. The spotlight will be on and every fourth quarter jumper that Westbrook takes will be criticized, analyzed and scrutinized. I’m trying to get out in front of that with this. So let’s start with this stat: In terms of “clutch” scoring, which is defined as the final five minutes (and overtime) of a game with a margin of five or less, Durant leads the league with 126 points. Joe Johnson and Chris Paul are second with 109. Westbrook is fourth with 102. Kobe is fifth is 100. Consider this too though: Durant is shooting 41.1 percent in the clutch, Westbrook 49.3 percent. (Kobe? He’s at 31.3 percent. Just wanted to toss that out there.) The Thunder, who have played a good number of close games, have scored 277 points as a team in the clutch. Durant and Westbrook have combined for 228 of them. The Thunder have been one of the best teams at closing close games, and that’s been largely due to the success of Westbrook and Durant operating in those moments. They finished one and two in clutch scoring last season (Westbrook 199 points on 39.1 shooting, Durant 194 on 40.6), but this year, it’s a much more cohesive, natural attack. As for the idea that Westbrook doesn’t defer, that’s just incorrect. Consider this:...CONTINUE READING AT DAILY THUNDER |
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